


5 Times Kendra Was Protective Over Seth

by feministkendra



Series: 5 Times Series [2]
Category: Fablehaven Series - Brandon Mull
Genre: PLATONIC BEST FRIEND SIBLING BROTP, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, THE BEST SIBLING BROTP IN THE GAME, i love these babies, kendra may be more shy but she WILL protect seth with her life, lemme just say a thank you to her for starting the ship fest off with a, okay i'll shut up now, older sister kendra is not someone to be trifled with, pls read and love them, ugh bless i love them so so so so so so much, written for aerinm's ship fest on tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 09:30:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17557796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feministkendra/pseuds/feministkendra
Summary: 5 times Kendra was protective over Seth, or Kendra says "NOT ON MY WATCH! ...NOT on my watch!" (I really hope y'all know that meme.) Part of the 5 Times Series.





	5 Times Kendra Was Protective Over Seth

**Author's Note:**

> There will be a part 2 to this coming up! I hope y'all like it!

1.

Marla was exhausted.

She had just given birth to her second child, a son, and his labor was ten times harder than the one of her daughter, Kendra. But as she held her newborn in her arms it was all worth it.

"So, what are you thinking for a name? I still say Zachary," her husband Scott whispered in her ear. Marla rolled her eyes, again unlike Kendra, they couldn't decide on a name.

"I told you no! That's my ex's name and we are not going there," she considered for a moment. "What about-"

"Scott Jr?"

"No! Maybe Andrew?"

"How about Michael?"

"Seriously?"

A knock came at their door and a nurse peeked in. "Sorry to intrude, but your daughter would like to come in?"

Marla and Scott looked at each other and smiled. She nodded and a moment letter, tiny feet could be heard tap tapping to the door. The nurse held Kendra's tiny hand as she brought their 2-year old into the room.

"Mommy!" Kendra exclaimed as she was lifted into the hospital bed. "Baby?"

Kendra knew quite a few words by now but didn't speak in sentences often. Marla smiles at her little girl crawling so carefully onto her lap. "Yes my sweet angel, you have a little brother now."

Kendra's face lit up, Marla wasn't sure she completely understood at the time but all the same, it made her happy. She seemed to get nervous before she asked quietly, "I hold?

Marla's heart melted, she nodded, unable to refuse a Kendra. Scott situated to Kendra beside Marla and told her how to hold a baby, Kendra took it all in with wide eyes and when Marla carefully placed the baby in her lap she saw Kendra's eyes widen even more.

"Lil' brother?"

"Correct, buttercup. He's your little brother." Scott answered, his eyes soft as he watched the scene before him. Kendra fell silent, just holding the baby, but this wasn't unusual as Kendra was a quiet kid.

But the look on her face? Priceless. Marla hoped she never forgot this moment, it was truly a beautiful sight to see.

"What his name?" Kendra asked next, eyes. ever leaving the baby.

"We, uh, haven't decided yet."

Kendra looked up, she seemed to think a little before her face lit up. "Seth?"

Marla and Scott paused and looked at each other, Kendra had named one of her teddy bears Seth and so she was probably putting a connection between the teddy bear she constantly played house with and her brother.

Marla was about to pretend to think about it, but then, she really thought about it. Seth Sorenson...the name did roll off her tongue in a way that she had been waiting for. She glanced towards her husband who shrugged at her, a sign that he wasn't in disagreement.

"Hm...Would you like his name to be Seth?" Marla asked her daughter. Kendra immediately nodded enthusiastically. Throwing Scott a grin she sighed. "Well, how could I say no?"

"Seth it is!" Scott cried with a grin. Kendra's happy smile and giggle would be something Marla would keep in her mind for dark days to remind her of happy times and things she had to look forward too.

"I…" Kendra paused thinking. They waited for her to finish. "Protect...Seth."

She pronounced protect wrong but Marla understood. Warmth flooded through her body, this was her family. This was all she needed.

They were worth it.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
2.

Scott sighed as he shut his laptop, he had just finished filing their taxes and needed a long night's sleep. Unfortunately, it was his turn to put the kids to bed, something that might take him hours with Seth.

They had never had any issues like that with Kendra, she had always been quiet and obedient to a T. Once Seth came along, a grew old enough to walk and talk, it became obvious that this wasn't going to be the case for him.

Seth was...wild, to say the least. He never wanted to settle down for bed, they couldn't leave him unsupervised during the day because he would get into anything and everything, he would mouth off and had a talent for bending and breaking rules.

All this...and Scott still wouldn't change the kid.

He may be a headache sometimes, but he was also an adventure waiting to happen and kept things interesting. Sure, there were times, typically when Seth was screaming because he was being punished for doing wrong, he wished for the quiet days with Kendra back.

The days where he could sit and color with her, read to her, dance with her and play house or tea party. Those days where it was just him and his little girl and a quiet house. Ever since Seth came along, those days happened very little. Seth was a full-time job and he just didn't have as much time for Kendra as he wished.

Scott shook his head while walking up the stairs to find the kids. He knew Kendra missed him, but she never complained, ever.

Even as she colored alone while he played army with Seth, even while she read alone while he tried to get Seth down for a nap, even while she practiced ballet alone while he tossed the football outside with Seth, even while she played house alone with Seth screaming in the background about wanting a cookie.

In all honesty, Scott felt bad. While he loved spending time with his little boy, he hated that he had to sacrifice time with his little girl. The problem was, it was hard to get them to enjoy the same activity.

Seth was too hyperactive to sit and color, but Kendra didn't like violence and playing army, Seth hated to read and naps so while Scott tried to get his son tired enough to take a nap by throwing the football, Kendra would practice ballet, and whenever Seth got in trouble or wouldn't follow rules, it made Kendra extremely nervous so she would hide away in her room in play.

The two of them were the exact opposite of each other.

Scott opened Kendra's door to find her room empty, which was odd. Her bedtime was in five minutes so by this time she had brushed her teeth, put on her pajamas and climbed into bed with a good book.

"Kens? Angel?" he stepped out of the room and shut the door, he walked down the hall a few feet and opened Seth's door. There, huddled together in Seth's bed were his two kids. Kendra was reading 'Goodnight, Baby Dragon' to her brother, and Seth was surprisingly listening well and looked very, very sleepy.

"Hi, Daddy," Kendra paused in her storytelling, this caused Seth to take his head off her shoulder, face lighting up.

"Dad! Kenny is readin' to me!"

Scott chuckled and walked to the bed, "I see that, kiddo."

"Come read with us! You can do your voices you always used to do," Kendra begged. "You know...back when we had storytime before bed?"

Scott's heart panged at the sound of sadness that was hidden - very poorly - in Kendra's voice. "Of course I can, sweetheart."

They cheered and moved over and made room for him to squeeze in between them, Seth crawled onto his lap and Kendra latched onto his side. "Okay, here we go."

He read not just that book, but two more at Seth's insistence. The young boy fell asleep in the middle of the last and his sister followed closely behind just before the end. Scott moved Seth as carefully as he could without waking either Seth or Kendra, then tucked him into bed.

Then he picked up Kendra and made his way to her room. As he was tucking her in, Kendra's eyes opened. "Daddy?"

"Go back to sleep, angel. It's bedtime."

"Okay…you know I've missed you, Daddy," she mumbled. Scott looked up from where he was grabbing her favorite Stitch plushie, he was frozen for a second before he moved again.

He tucked her Stitch under her arm. "Oh? But, I've always been around."

"Yeah, but you would rather play with Seth. I get it, Seth is more fun and brave and adventurous."

Scott sat on the bed with a sigh. "Kendra, that's not it at all. He just takes up most of my time. He's quite the handful, and tiring and doesn't follow rules that well an-"

"Hey! Don't talk about him that way!"

He took in the pout on Kendra's face and finger pointed at him and suddenly remembered when Kendra vowed to protect Seth the day he was born. He chuckled and raised his hands up. "All right, all right. I'm sorry. But, my point is, there just isn't enough time in my day."

"I understand," she sighed. Scott didn't like seeing her so upset. He realized that even though Seth took up most of his time, he needed to find something to do with Kendra regularly without her brother so that she didn't feel so left out.

"Hey, how about me and you find something we can do together. Just us, hm?" he proposed. Kendra popped her head up, her eyes were wide and hopeful.

"Really?"

"Yeah! Tell you what, you think of what you wanna do and let me know, okay?"

"Maybe we can bring Sethy along?"

Scott paused, "But, don't you want it to be just you and me, princess?"

"Yeah...I do...But, won't Sethy be all alone and we can't leave him alone he will get scared and who will play with him then and he'll be lonely and stuff," Kendra rambled on, ticking the points off of her fingers incorrectly.

"I promise someone will be there to play with Seth, don't you worry. Just think of something you want to do, alright?" Scott pulled her comforter up to her chin and kissed her forehead. "Night night, angel."

"Nighty night, Daddy."

With that, he turned her fairy nightlight on and left the room, leaving the door open just a smidge. He checked on Seth, tucking him in properly and kissing his forehead as well.

Satisfied that both the kids were in bed he left Seth's room and climbed the flight of stairs leading to his and Marla's bedroom on the third floor. She looked up from the book she was reading in bed and smiled.

"Well, you're up here earlier than I expected."

Scott chuckled. "Thank Kendra, when I went up to put them to bed, fully prepared to deal with Seth's antics, I found them in his bed with Kendra reading to him."

"Aw, that's sweet. Worked out well for you then, huh?"

"It sure did."

Scott stuck to his promise of going somewhere special with Kendra. She had ended up seeing a Cirque du Soleil commercial on TV and begged him to take her. Thankfully, he was able to get tickets and as he watched Kendra's face light up with awe he decided it was worth every penny.

Now, when she came to him a week later and announced she wanted to be an aerialist...Well, maybe Seth would be the least of his worries.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
3.

Kendra was reading in the living room when the front door opened with a bang. She heard the sound of someone crying and rushed into the front hallway. There, she found Seth with tears streaming down his face and his knees all scraped up.

"Seth! What happened, did you fall?" Kendra hurried to his side, he was never one to cry easily and it worried her greatly to see him so upset.

"N-no, the older b-boys d-down the street p-pushed me," he sobbed. Kendra wrapped her arms around Seth and he clung onto her. "I-I just wanted to play with them b-but they c-called me names and pushed me o-over."

"I'm sorry, Sethy," Kendra felt tears sting her own eyes. "Come on, let's get mom to clean you up, huh?" she gently nudged him towards the kitchen. He followed her, wiping tears off his face.

Once she got him sitting on a kitchen chair, she ran to the stairs and yelled up to her mother. "Mommy! The boys down the street were mean to Seth and hurt him!"

She heard a distant, 'What?!" and then footsteps coming to the top of the stairs. He mother appeared looking confused. "Kens, did you say Seth was hurt?"

"Yeah, his knees are all scraped up," Kendra said. Her mother started down the stairs as soon as she heard the affirmative and hurried to where Seth was sitting.

Seeing Seth so sad made her want to cry as well. He may be an annoying little brother sometimes but he was her annoying little brother.

As Kendra's mother took care of Seth, Kendra ran upstairs and grabbed a bunch of blankets from her room. Then she carried them all into Seth's room and got to work. She had a brother to cheer up.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kendra had just placed the final pillow in place when she heard Seth coming up the stairs. She quickly stood up and waited. His door opened and Seth appeared, he stared for a second, a smile slowly coming over his face before he laughed excitedly.

"Kenny! You built a blanket fort for me?" he asked checking out the inside.

Kendra crawled in, laying back on the many pillows. "Of course! I have the DVD player and we can watch whatever you want okay?"

Seth lunged into the fort and got comfortable. "This is awesome! Totally better than whatever those lame boys are doing!"

"Totally, Sethy."

And so for hours, they watched as many movies they wanted, accepting snacks from their mother periodically, laughing, joking, and mimicking movie scenes until they eventually fell asleep cuddled up in their fort.

The memories they made that day would last them a lifetime.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
4.

Kendra rushed to catch up to where her brother was storming up the street to their house. "Seth! Wait up!"

"No!"

"What do you mean 'no'?" she asked finally reaching him. He shrugged off her hand from his shoulder and she furrowed her eyebrows. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong! Mind your own business," he snapped. Kendra paused for a moment before taking a deep breath and reminding herself to be patient. Seth stomped up the driveway and to the front door.

Kendra caught up with him just as he was unlocking the house. Before she could enter behind her brother, he slammed the door in her face.

Yeah, that does it.

She threw the door back open and shut it behind her, she could hear his angry footsteps going up the stairs and ran after him. "Seth Michael Sorenson, get back here!"

"Go away!" Seth went to shut his bedroom door but this time Kendra slammed her hand onto it and stopped it from closing. After a bit of a struggle, she was able to open it wide enough to slip into his room.

Panting, she placed her hand on her hips and met Seth's glare with an equally vicious one. "Okay, you are being insanely rude to me. And for what? Saying hi to you on the bus? I don't deserve this treatment Seth, I just want to help you."

"You can't help me so just leave me alone," he groaned. Seth walked to his bed, brushing past her and sitting down heavily. "You can't fix stupid, so why bother?"

"Stupid? Who's stupid?"

"Me."

Surprised, Kendra lowered her hands off of her hips slowly. "Seth why would you say that. It isn't true."

Seth dug into his backpack and pulled out a paper. He handed it to Kendra and she read it seeing it was his latest history exam and he had gotten a D- on it. She sighed and sat next to him on the bed.

"A D- isn't that-"

"Yes, it is!" Seth exploded, throwing his hands up before letting them fall into his lap. "You can't tell me it isn't, miss 'lowest grade I have ever got was a B+'! You're smart, you don't have to worry about being the dunce of your class."

Kendra hesitantly put her arm around him, relaxing when he didn't shrug her away. "Seth, grades don't define how smart you are. Maybe you aren't the best test taker, maybe history isn't your best subject, and maybe you just had a bad day."

"Tell that to Jacob."

"Jacob Swaversy? Isn't he one of your best friends?"

Seth snorted bitterly. "I thought so...then he saw my grade and started calling me stupid and telling the whole class. Spoiler alert: I had the lowest grade."

Anger pulsed through her veins and a strong need to protect Seth overcame her heart. That was just plain cruel and outright bullying. Seth had a few run-ins when he was little with a few mean kids, but that hasn't happened in a long time.

"That's horrible, I'm sorry Sethy," Kendra earned a small smile at the old nickname. She ruffled his hair softly, struggling to find the solution to make him feel better. "Jacob was the idiot. He may have gotten a higher test score but he has no brains."

"Maybe he's hungry for them...like a zombie," Seth snickered lightly.

"I mean he looks like one doesn't he?" she laughed, he started cracking up at that causing her to laugh harder as well.

Seth sobered and turned to her. "Do you think mom and dad will be mad?"

"Nah, you know them, always saying our happiness comes before everything, even school."

"But, they're so smart...mom's a lawyer...dad's a doctor...seems like all of their smart genes went to you."

Kendra scoffed. "Please, Seth you have so much of mom's lawyer genes that it's natural to you. Whenever you get in trouble it's like watching a court case as you make deals with mom. You also know plenty of laws and so much about crime."

"Which I only know because I watch cop shows and stuff!"

"Seth, not all learning has to happen from school and books. You learn new stuff every day, tv shows, conversations, the internet, who knows. You're pretty good with street smarts Seth, sometimes that's even better than book smarts."

Seth sighed and flopped backward on his bed. Kendra did the same and they were silent for a few minutes. Kendra just hoped she did a good job at cheering him up. As Seth grew up, he accepted less and less affection from her, turning down hugs left and right. She was happy he let her comfort him today instead of brooding and pushing her away.

But still, she missed him. Seth was so outgoing with everyone until he got home. Sure they joked around sometimes and watched movies in the living room, but it wasn't the same. Kendra was a naturally clingy and cuddly person, so not being able to wrap him up in a hug when he was upset like this was hard. But she understood his boundaries.

"Hey, Kenny?" Seth spoke up suddenly. "Thanks."

She turned her head to look at him and smiled. "Of course, Sethy. What are big sisters for?"

It was silent again for a moment before she added one more thing. "And if you want me to get those idiots in trouble just let me know. Being the teacher's pet has its perks."

Seth laughed and with that, she got up to go finish her homework. Yeah sure, things were changing as time goes on. Things always change and not that she was good with it - because she most certainly isn't - she accepted it. Besides, one thing that will never change is that no one messes with her baby brother.

Which is why Jacob Swaversy found himself in detention for a week for bullying.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
5.

Seth woke up suddenly at the sound of a loud rumble of thunder. It echoed in his ears and he clamped his hands over them in an effort to silence the noise. He hated thunder. He hated it so much. If being afraid of thunder was childish then Seth was childish.

Another boom of thunder shook the house and Seth shook with it. He couldn't stop the whimper that came from him as he saw the flashing of lightning that followed. He sat up in bed and brought his knees to his chest. His hands were still clamped over his ears, but they did nothing to stop the sound of the next rumble of thunder from reaching him.

It was so loud that Seth was sure the house was going to crumble from the shaking it did. He cried out at the lightning flashed with a bang and hid his face in his knees. Seth had always hated thunderstorms. Always. Positively hated them. It was the one thing he would admit to being afraid of.

"Stupid thunderstorm. Stupid, stupid, stupid…" he muttered helplessly as the next boom sounded. Suddenly, he felt his bed dip with extra weight and a pair of arms wrap around him softly.

"It's okay, Seth, you're okay," came a whisper in his ear. Kendra. She had always been there to comfort him when these storms happened back home, he was glad the tradition hadn't stopped. She let go of him for a moment and Seth noticed a light turned on through the cracks of his knees.

Seth lifted his head and turned towards her. "I woke you up didn't I?"

"Nah, the thunder did. You know I'm a light sleeper, and that's quite the storm. I knew you would need me once I heard it so I came over."

"...Thanks."

Kendra settled so she was leaning against the pillows at the head of his bed and held her arms out to him. Seth didn't hesitate to crawl over and let her wrap her arms around him tightly. He laid with his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Thunder boomed and his hold on Kendra tightened and he squeezed his eyes shut. Kendra ran her hand up and down his back soothingly, her other hand smoothing his hair down. Seth appreciated the action as it helped him focus on something other than the storm.

"It's okay, the storm should be over soon, you're okay," Kendra whispered.

"I know, I know…" he responded softly, "I just...I know."

Kendra rested her head on his. "I understand. But hey, it's already clearing up. The rain isn't falling as hard and lightning hasn't struck in a while. Just thunder."

"Which is the part that scares me," Seth sighed. "I know it's stupid to be afraid of it."

Kendra's hand paused on his back. "Seth, it isn't stupid. Everyone is afraid of something, you happen to be afraid of thunder. It's not stupid."

Seth sat up, frustrated with himself. He's faced much scarier things, like zombies and dragons and even demons and he still wasn't as scared as he was now. It was stupid thunder! Why was he so scared?

"Seth?" Kendra sat up too. "You okay?"

"No! I'm afraid of something as simple as thunder! Yet I fought a demon! I killed a dragon! Why am I so afraid?" he hit his leg a few times weakly, his frustration mounting.

Kendra put an arm around him again and Seth leaned his head back on her shoulder in defeat. "I'm scared of clowns."

Seth blinked at that. "Wait, what?"

"Hate them, terrified of them. If the demon king had looked like a clown I wouldn't have even gone near him. They scare me to the point of tears even."

"You're lying."

"Am not. Ask mom, they had one at the school fair my freshman year of high school and I hid behind mom crying because it came near me."

Seth picked his head up and looked at his sister for a moment before putting it back down. "I never knew that."

Kendra shrugged lightly, moving his head up and down. They sat there for a few more minutes, listening as the rain slowly stopped falling outside. Thunder hadn't sounded for a while and Seth felt the fear leaving his body.

He lifted his head, his muscles aching from being in that position for too long. "Thanks, Kens. For sitting with me...and for not making fun of me."

Kendra smiled softly. "Of course, why would I make fun of you?"

"Cause I always make fun of you," Seth felt a little guilty at the moment, thinking of all the times he teased his sister for being afraid. "You know, on missions. I just appreciate you not getting back at me for it."

"Seth, no one likes being scared. I'm not gonna tease you when you were sitting here shaking just because you teased me a little on missions. Besides, your teasing on missions helps me not freak out as much."

Seth laid back down, head hitting his pillow softly, Kendra copied him and the two fell into silence. Exhaustion started creeping its way back into Seth's mind, filling the space fear had left. His body was reminding him it was in the middle of the night and he yawned.

Kendra surprised him by wrapping her arms around him and cuddling close. "Kens, I'm okay now, you know you don't have to cuddle me right?"

"Oh no, you aren't getting rid of me that easily. I'm staying right here and cuddling you for the rest of the night," she mumbled stubbornly. "You never let me cuddle you anymore, so I am taking this chance and milking it."

Seth laughed lightly. "You mean like we did to Viola that year?"

"Never bring that up again."

"It was your idea!"

"I said what I said, Seth!"

He tried his best to smother his laughter but he knew he failed when Kendra reached up and flicked his forehead. "Ow! Okay! Okay! I won't laugh at you!"

Kendra didn't bother to even answer so he settled into his bed more, he hesitated for a moment before he put an arm around Kendra as well. He might not like to cuddle that much, but he couldn't lie and say he hated it.

Especially when it was Kendra. Seth remembers when they were kids he would always try to convince their parents to let him sleep in Kendra's room, just so they could cuddle. Sure, he grew out of that, but every now and then he just needed a hug from his big sister.

"I can practically hear you thinking, go to sleep rugrat," Kendra sleepily whispered.

"Do you remember that show? That was a good show, which character do you think I'm most like?" He couldn't resist teasing her, it was almost like an instinct now.

"Seth."

That was the only warning he got and Seth figured it would be best to quit while he was ahead when she was surrounded by pillows that could be used as weapons. Never in his life had he beaten her in a pillow fight.

"Night, Kenny."

"Night, Seth."

Seth was expecting to have to pull an all-nighter because of the storm, he should have known better than that with Kendra around.

Sure, he might tease her and make fun of her and be an overall annoying little brother most of the time. But he loved his older sister and he knew that anything could happen, he could royally mess up or the world could be ending, and she would have his back.

As he fell asleep, he thought of all the times Kendra was by his side whenever he needed her. Through bullies, or when he got hurt from being a bit reckless, or reading to him at night, or even setting him on the right track when he got a little too rebellious. She always stood up for him, even when he was wrong at times, and that meant everything to Seth.

Yeah, he had the best big sister in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, aren't they just the cutest thing! I love a good sibling relationship, it makes me so happy, THEY make me so happy. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it!! Until next time with part 2! XOXO


End file.
